


the peacock hunts in bars

by anticupid16



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 19:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13371930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anticupid16/pseuds/anticupid16
Summary: A short first-meeting between Caleb and Molly in which Caleb really can't stop staring.





	the peacock hunts in bars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Call_Me_Tears](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Call_Me_Tears/gifts).



Caleb Widogast considered himself a logical man, if nothing else. But there was no stopping the illogical desire to have taken a bath that morning (much as he’d chafed against Jester’s suggestion he do just that) as soon as the tiefling and his tall companion came into the tavern. With the light reflected behind them, all Caleb could see were the horns of the tiefling, and the tails of his purple coat as he sauntered inside. Then the door was shut, and he got a glimpse of the jewelry, the expression, and the peacock tattoo. 

He straightened up in his seat, watching carefully as the two strangers moved from table to table, selectively distributing some sort of flyer. Every swish of the man’s coat caught Caleb’s attention, and though exact words were somewhat garbled by the noise of the tavern the tone of building excitement was audible. And as the two moved closer and closer to where Caleb and Nott sat, they came further into focus. 

The woman with him was muscled as well as tall, with black hair that turned white as it went down around her shoulders, and a dark look that roughly translated as “I can and will hurt you.” The tiefling, though, from the curl of his purple hair to the gold glinting on the edge of his horns, was bright and sparkling. There was an inherent look of mischief in his eye as he caught sight of Jester at the table beside them. 

Of course, his gaze seemed to slide right over where Caleb sat, and he leaned forward to watch as the newcomer arrived at the table next to him. He greeted them, using a sort of bravado that Caleb usually wouldn’t trust for a second. But this guy had a charm to him that made it work. He introduced himself as Mollymauk—the most pretentious name that Caleb had ever heard in his life—and said they could call him Molly. 

The conversation was almost entirely with Jester, the two forward in their respective chairs as Molly produced a set of cards. He glanced up at Jester, and then his red eyes slid over her head and met Caleb’s eye just for a second. His expression didn’t change at all, Molly keeping up the look of playfulness that Caleb could see right through. They were advertising a circus, and Molly’s game now was to read the cards for Jester. 

Caleb tilted his head to the side just slightly in order to watch Molly flipping the cards. He thought there was something odd about the way Molly’s purple fingers slipped through the deck to find the cards, but he just couldn’t tell. The movements were too fast, and like everything else about him, entrancing. The edges of the cards glinted in the light of the tavern just as the rings on Molly’s ears and horns did with every movement of his head. It seemed everyone’s attention was turned towards him, but Caleb really felt he couldn’t look away. A fight could break out right in front of him, Nott’s mask could slip and the barkeep could see she was a goblin, but as long as Molly was sitting just a few feet away from him he’d still be watching his fingers slide through the cards. 

Jester’s excitement cut through the fortune that Molly was spinning, and Caleb winced, looking down for just a second. That one second seemed to clear his mind a bit, and he was already thinking of ways to tell this strange crew he and Nott had found themselves thrust towards that this circus was a bad idea. A waste of time, time Caleb could be spending finding books or drinks to fill Nott’s flask and coin for her purse. But as soon as he raised his head again, he made eye contact with Molly for the second time. Molly’s eyes were narrowed, as though he’d been watching Caleb this whole time for movement—which was impossible, he’d been speaking with Jester and concentrating on the cards in front of him right? 

A subtle tilt of Molly’s head and then he was back to flipping cards, a smile stretching across his face at the excitement his reading caused. The tattoo that stretched up to the bottom of his cheek rippled a little with the movement, and Caleb’s eyes wandered a little further down to where the inky peacock disappeared into the high collar of Molly’s overcoat. This time, when he glanced up into Molly’s face again, though, his eyes were still downturned. 

Then the woman he’d come in with returned from the bar, and Molly stood up with another dramatic flourish to announce that if anyone else wanted a fortune read, they should attend the circus that evening. Caleb thought that maybe Molly was looking right at him when he said that, but then he was gone just as quickly as he’d arrived. 

A deep breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding let out, and Caleb crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair again. He agreed with something Nott said, and conversation seemed to be implying that the two of them would be joining these strangers at the circus. Of course they were. Still, it was hard for Caleb to tell himself he wasn’t looking forward to seeing what else Mollymauk could do… 

Meanwhile in the street outside, Molly fished another set of papers out of an inside pocket of his coat, shuffling the papers a bit as he and Yasha walked to the next tavern. “That dirty human couldn’t take his eyes off you,” she commented as they turned down a side street. 

“Mm, he did for a second,” Molly countered. He could almost hear her glare at him. 

“And what did you do about it?” 

“Let’s just say we’ll be seeing him tonight, whether he knows it or not.” 

The next tavern was about as boring as they all were, Molly picking the occasional patron here or there to show off some talent to, but in the back of his mind he was still thinking about the downcast look and smears of dirt that masked the man he’d just met.


End file.
